An Explanation ....

Posted on 26th Jul at 4:03 AM

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I feel like I owe you all a bit of an explanation for my sporadic appearances lately. This was something that I was trying to keep private, but I also thought I would be back into the swing of things by now. Now, I am not making you aware of this for any type of false sympathies. Not at all. I just want you guys to know that I still love M&M. No, I have not joined another fandom (do others exist?) ... it's just that real life sucks sometimes.

To be brief and concise (granted, which is often difficult for me) ~ On May 31st I had the first part of a two part surgery to replace an artificial prothesis in my right TMJ (temporal mandibular joint). The original plan was to be wired shut (my jaw) for 6 weeks and then on July 19th have the second surgery to implant a new, custom made prothesis. Yeah well, we know what they say about the best laid plans, right? They often go astray.

Now I usually recover pretty damn fast. Within two days of my gallbladder surgery I was up and about. I didn't expect this. I was home the next day, I didn't see any need to stay longer, besides I really missed Amanda and the pups. The first two nights, the pain was almost intolerable, but it eased up. While it was a bit of an adjustment not being able to eat, I was managing okay with a straw ... for awhile. Just to give you an idea, the entire right side of my face looked like a chipmunk. Oh, and I have lost control of some of the facial nerves as I cannot raise my right eyebrow. Hopefully, that's only temporary though.

Then, out of the blue, the pain increased. Worse than post surgery. Turns out the silastic temporary implant that was placed in my joint as a spacer began to migrate. RX: Liquid pain meds, ice and watch for signs of infection. Okay, that passed, or I was just getting used to the pain.

The next week, the wires in my mouth became loose. Of course they did, I was able to talk. Did they think wires would stop me? I had to go back to the surgeon (who is a world renown specialist who, by the way, does not live around the corner) and he tightened the wires. That was the first problem.

A week or so later, one of the wires breaks. Back down to the surgeon. He replaced the wire and off I went. Three days later, another wire breaks. The doctor decides that my jaw is obviously getting stronger and removes the cross wires and keeps in the arch bars (the wires closing the top and bottom of my mouth were cut) and now I was given 4 pairs of rubber bands to where - kinda like braces.

Oh, and in the middle of this, we learn that my insurance company (not an HMO) was delaying the creation of my custom prothesis. Now, mind you, they approved the first surgery, which was the removal of the original non-custom prothesis, wouldn't you think they would have approved the remainder of the procedure; ie, creation of new prothesis, second surgery to implant the new prothesis? Alrighty then, so now my July 19th surgery is set back to sometime in August. Remember, my first surgery was May 31st!

About four days after the rubber bands, the pain was too much. Back to the surgeon. I left his office completely wired shut. This time however, there is hardly enough room for me to sip a straw. The surgeon made damn sure these wires were not coming loose this time. If the pain continues, there will be no alternative but to operate, early, and move the temporary silastic implant which is supposed to be maintaing open joint space back in place. The surgeon encourages me to just "hang on a few more weeks".

Oh, and the new surgical date is August 19th. May 31st to August 19th being wired shut. Ah, a few more weeks. I'M HUNGRY!!! I digress.

Now, the latest, every time I swallow (now, keep in mind that every time you yawn, eat, swallow puts pressure on the TMJ joints) I feel this shooting pain shooting directly into the joint.

I am faced with a dilemma. I know if I call the surgeon the outcome will be an emergency surgery. If I don't, I have three more weeks to deal with increasing pain. Also, come August 19th, the scheduled surgery date once the surgeon opens me back up, there may be an infection in there and, if that's the case, I will get closed back up, still completely wired shut and my implantation surgery postponed.

So, as I sit here this morning folks, I just wanted to let you know what was going on and why I haven't been here as often as I would like to In the meantime, please bear with me. If you write me, comment, etc., I will get back to you. I am hopeful that after the second surgery, I will recover as quickly as I normally do and will be back online and enjoying the community that I love so dearly relatively quickly.

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